Yesterday's flight period went far better than I had expected it to. Mike has a few quirks in the plane that I'm not crazy about, but I'm sure it'll all work out in the end. I do like his teaching style, in general, and I feel pretty good about finishing my commercial certificate with him.

What was I thinking?

I'm sitting in the briefing room waiting for my new instructor to get back from a flight, so we can go up together for the first time. When I requested that Belinda assign me a new instructor, it seemed like such a great idea. I'd get my time in, in a timely fashion, and I'd be able to fly my check ride with Belinda. Now, though, I'm trying not to panic. For those who don't know, Mike (the new instructor) will be my 9th flight instructor since I started my training back in Michigan in 2005. I've had some absolutely miserable experiences with some truly God-awful flight instructors, and those bad experiences have left me pretty gun-shy when it comes to flying with someone new. And now, not only am I about to go up with a new instructor, I'm about to do it at 3:15 in the afternoon, when turbulence is near its strongest and I've already had a fully day of mechanic class. This is suddenly seeming like the dumbest thing I could ever do.

It's Been A While...

I guess I haven't posted much lately (if you think I'm bad on here, you should see my paper journal. Oy!) so I should probably write something, on the slim off-chance someone actually checks my blog for updates.

I started the AMT (read: aircraft mechanic) program at school on July 7, which means that today I finished week 3 (the program runs 15 months total). Because our program is approved by the FAA, we MUST be tested on 129 subject areas, and pass every one of them. One hundred twenty-nine subjects into 15 months means that in the last 3 weeks, we've had 4 tests (I think; everything is sort of a blur right now) which I've passed without any real trouble. But this is the "General Phase" so we're not getting very in-depth on anything yet. Monday will be our first time working in the lab (read: hangar). We'll be making fluid lines (read: little pipes) and pressure-testing them. I'm very excited for a chance to finally use the $700 worth of tools that have been riding in my trunk since the 7th.

It's sort of strange to think that in 15 months, Jen and I will be able to leave Douglas. We've only been here 2 years, but sometimes it seems like we've always lived here. I've been asked if I hope to move back to Michigan when we're done here. Somewhere along the way, Michigan stopped being "home" for me (though I still love the song "Michigan Christmas"). I have no desire to move closer to my family, because it seems like we all get along best when there are thousands of miles between us. And I don't feel as though I left many friends behind when we moved here (just as I don't feel like I'll be leaving any friends here when I go), so that's not a motivation. Come right to it, I can't think of anywhere that DOES feel like home to me which, I suppose, will help me get acclimated when we get wherever we're going after this, but I also can't help thinking it's just a little bit sad.

I'll most likely find out on Monday who my flight instructor will be for the rest of my commercial certificate training. I had a talk with Belinda a day or two ago (again, everything's a bit of a blur), and requested a new instructor. It's not that I'm unhappy with the instruction Belinda's been giving me. It's just that our schedules aren't really going to mesh until sometime in October, and I don't want to wait that long to finish my training. I need an instructor who can fly a 3:15 flight period with me when I get out of AMT, and there are 2 new instructors coming in who will be able to do that. Also, having a different instructor means I'll be able to fly my check ride with Belinda when the time comes, which is a definite plus. I've met both of the new instructors, and they both seem nice (and they both have years of flying experience; also a plus), so I don't really care too much which one I get assigned to. It's going to make for a LONG day, sitting in class for 7-8 hours, then getting in a plane and flying for another hour, but there's not really any other way around it; I need to finish my commercial certificate, and it's got to be this semester. God never gives us more than we can handle, right? Right?!